Disney’s 10 most evil villainesses

“Maleficent,” the villianess’s side of the “Sleeping Beauty” story, is opening in theaters today, so we wanted to take a look at the 10 most popular Disney bad ladies and see what makes them, well, so bad. Rather than trying to rank the women according to their evil deeds, we chose to list them according to when their love/hate affair with movie audiences began. We had some help from Steven Vagnini, the archivist for the Walt Disney Archives. Enjoy this little walk down memory lane and sleep tight — if you can!

Special powers or weapons: Able to change appearance and mix special potions with witchcraft. And, of course, she has a chatty mirror.

Good traits: Fashion sense. She wears a very cool royal robe with a tall, flattering collar.

Lady Tremaine

Film: “Cinderella” (1950)

Evil deed: Jealous of her stepdaughter Cinderella, Lady Tremaine treats her as a maid while her own daughters are given their every whim. Her treatment of Cinderella is psychological rather than physical harm.

Evil traits: Selfish, abusive, controlling and snobbish.

Special powers or weapons: She has a key that locks Cinderella in the house on the night of the ball. Also, her cat, Lucifer, makes life difficult for the friendly house mice.

Good traits: Sophisticated and smart social climber.

The Queen of Hearts

Film: “Alice in Wonderland” (1951)

Evil deed: Humiliated after tripping during a croquet game, The Queen of Hearts sentences Alice to death.

Evil traits: Loud, hot-tempered, bossy and insane.

Special powers or weapons: Physically strong.

Good traits: Likes playing a genial game of croquet (although she uses a flamingo as a mallet and hedgehogs as balls) and enjoys unbirthday parties.

Maleficent

Film: “Sleeping Beauty” (1959)

Evil deed: After being told she is unwanted in a ceremony welcoming the king’s new baby, Maleficent curses the child, Aurora, saying she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel on her 16th birthday and die.